A Page of Madness/ Special Screening

[Mark D. Roberts]

Last night's screening of "A Page of Madness" in Yurakucho certainly  
lived up to expectations. The quality of the restoration appeared  
quite good, the live music was evocative while being tastefully  
understated, and the print even included some tantalizing English subs.

I'm very much looking forward to Aaron's book on this film and, like  
others, am curious to know about possible plans for distribution. I  
assumed this might be addressed during the discussion before the  
film, albeit only tangentially, but the focus was really on FIAF and  
their mission. Actually, nothing specific was even said about the  
restoration.

While it was stated that perhaps 100 film archivists from around the  
world were present in the theater, the presentation before the  
screening was pitched more for a general audience. The speakers  
wanted to emphasize that FIAF is interested not merely in preserving  
"content" but also thinking about film culture in terms of cultural  
context and spectatorial experience, especially in the present  
transitional phase from film to digital supports. It was very broad  
in scope and raised some interesting questions about how to think  
about film culture. There were exhortations to maintain a healthy  
skepticism about digital media, and a forceful reminder that, as a  
rule, the more modern the support, the less stable it is.

All of this definitely needs to be said, but in the end there was  
little about the restoration itself, or any future plans for  
Kinugasa's film. Browsing FIAF's newsletter for this year's congress  
doesn't yield any additional clues. Given that Lang's "Metropolis" is  
now registered in UNESCO's "Memory of the World" program, and given  
current interest in issues of cultural diversity, heritage, and the  
obvious connections between FIAF's mission and that of an  
organization like UNESCO, I wonder what plans are in the works for "A  
Page of Madness"?

Best,

M. Roberts